


Aubergine

by adaille



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 11:43:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15000188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adaille/pseuds/adaille
Summary: Dean texts Cas to invite him over for movie night, but accidentally sends the worst possible emoticon when Charlie jostles him and he drops the phone.###Oh god. Oh no. Oh no no oh no oh god.“Dean?”He whispered, voice laced with horror. “I sent him the eggplant.”“What? Let me see.”His voice rose an octave. “I sent him the eggplant! I must’ve - when you hit me, and then I - shit, what am I gonna do?”Charlie grabbed his phone, then folded over laughing. “Ooo...do you wanna eggplant, Cas? Hey Cas, do you want some of my - ““Shut it, Charlie, this isn’t funny!”





	Aubergine

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, Dean.
> 
> I felt like something sweet, silly, and six kinds of ridiculous today, so here you go.
> 
> I have no idea if it’s possible to post emoticons in line with the story or not, so I just wrote them out in brackets. Hopefully that’s not too jarring.

Charlie dangled her head upside down off the old recliner she always claimed at Dean’s apartment, watching him through the open doorway as he moved around in the kitchen, her legs kicking against the headrest.

“Hurry up, Dean. I need some Picard after the day I had.”

The bag crinkled when he took it out of the microwave, the steam burning his fingers. “You want popcorn or not? Yeah? Then quit whining.”

When Dean wandered back into the room, Charlie flipped right side up and made grabby hands for the bowl.

“Besides, I don’t know why you’re complaining about _your_ day,” he muttered.

“Um, gardening? Our raised bed? Dude, you were there, it was like 90 degrees outside.”

“Yeah, and I did all the heavy lifting. Thought when we volunteered, we were gonna split the work? How come I’m the one pulling all the weeds and you get to water?”

“You’re snippy today.” Her eyes sharpened the longer she studied him. “Something on your mind?”

Dean shrugged, sinking down on the futon he and Benny had rescued from the curb. “Dunno. Just Cas, I guess. He’s been a little strange lately. Can’t seem to fit me into his schedule any more.”

“He’s been working on that art project that’s like half his grade, hasn’t he?”

“Yeah, been spending all his spare time with _Alfie_ and the other guys in his class.”

“Ooo, jealous much?”

Dean flushed. “You know how I feel about Cas.”

Charlie snagged a handful of popcorn, and talked around the kernels she shoved in her mouth. “You should totally invite him over tonight.”

“He never comes over on Wednesdays. It’s been our movie night since high school.”

“I’m a big girl, I can share. C’mon, invite him, invite him.” She leaned over, whisper-chanting _invite him invite him invite him_.

“Fine, jeez. Thought you wanted the movie to start.”

Dean had just typed “Do you wanna” when Charlie jabbed him with her elbow, telling him not to be a smart-ass. His finger went wild, and he fumbled the phone. It fell, hitting his bare toes on the way down and sliding under the chair.

He fished it out, and went to complete his text, but—

Oh god. Oh no. Oh no no oh no oh god.

“Dean?”

He whispered, voice laced with horror. “I sent him the eggplant.”

“What? Let me see.”

His voice rose an octave. “I sent him the eggplant! I must’ve—when you hit me, and then I—shit, what am I gonna do?”

Charlie grabbed his phone, then folded over laughing. “Ooo...do you wanna eggplant, Cas? Hey Cas, do you want some of my—“

“Shut it, Charlie, this isn’t funny!”

“Dude, chill. Just text him back and tell him what happened. Seriously, he’ll—oh, shit.”

“What, what? Give it here.”

Charlie handed it back over. “He sent you a thumbs up.”

“Are you—fuck.”

 **> Dean** : Do you wanna <eggplant>

 **> Cas** : <thumbs up>

 **> Cas** : When and where?

“What should I do?” Dean whispered.

“Give ‘m some of your eggplant, of course.”

“This is serious! This is Cas! He can’t possibly know what that means. He’s, he’s _Cas_.”

“Just tell him to come here, now.”

“But, movie night.”

“Dude, you’re not gonna relax and watch the movie after that. Just tell him to come over, I’ll jet. Never let it be said that the Queen stood in the way of true love.”

 **> Dean** : My place now?

“I still don’t think he knows what it meant, Charlie. He’s gonna think I made eggplant parmesan for dinner or something.”

“He uses emoticons all the time!”

“Half the time he uses them...well, not wrong, but not like other people.”

“Dude, just admit your boy toy understands texting as well as my grandma.”

“Your grandma’s a hip lady.”

“Damn right. And I think Cas knows what you meant, Dean.”

“I meant to ask him to come over and watch Star Trek!”

“Fine, fine.” She raised her hand, speaking with a strange affectation as if she was quoting a prophecy for one of their LARP games. “It was not what you wanted to say, but what you needed to say.”

“Shh, shh. His dots are moving.”

 **> Cas** : I thought tonight was Charlie’s night.

 **> Cas** : I don’t want to interrupt.

 **> Cas** : I can come by for it tomorrow, if that works for you.

“Ooooo,” Charlie leaned over Dean’s shoulder, abandoning her chair so she could read the texts as they came in. “Tell him you’ll be hot and ready after class.”

Dean could feel the heat in his ears. They had to be bright red by now.

 **> Dean** : I’ll be done at the garden by 4. That ok?

 **> Cas** : I look forward to it.

#

Charlie was right. Dean barely watched the movie, and she decided to head home after the one.

If it’d been hard to think about anything else while she was here, it was impossible to think about anything else now that he was alone in his empty apartment. His roommate was staying over at his girlfriend Andrea’s apartment most nights now, and it was too quiet.

He bit his lip, and grabbed his phone back up.

 **> Dean** : What if he thinks we grew too much eggplant and I’m offering him some?

 **> Charlie** : We didn’t plant eggplant

 **> Dean** : He doesn’t know that!

 **> Charlie** : You obsessed about what seeds to plant in the Bed You Don’t Care About And Are Just Helping Me With As A Favor for weeks

 **> Charlie** : People who barely know you know what’s planted in that garden

 **> Dean** : I wasn’t that bad

 **> Charlie** : It’s ok, Dean. No one cares that you like plants

 **> Charlie** : Hufflepuffs are cool

 **> Charlie** : And before you say anything that starts with “but my dad”

 **> Charlie** : Your dad can go fuck himself

He flushed.

 **> Dean** : Still

 **> Dean** : What if he thinks I have actual eggplant for him

 **> Charlie** : Have you ever offered him random vegetables before?

 **> Dean** : No

 **> Charlie** : Quit worrying. I told you last semester, he likes you

 **> Charlie** : Go to bed

 **> Dean** : Fine

 **> Charlie** : ?

 **> Dean** : Yes, my Queen

 **> Charlie** : Better. Good night

 **> Dean** : Night

#

Dean laid down and stared at the ceiling. Hours later, he gave up, drove to the 24-hour grocery near campus, and bought four eggplants.

#

He changed three times, and rearranged the eggplants on the kitchen counter at least twice that. When a soft knock tapped out Castiel’s familiar pattern on his door, Dean froze, his hands still on the vegetables.

Cas was prompt. Of course he was prompt. He was always prompt. Right at 4, just when Dean had said.

The knock came again. Shit, yes, the door.

He scurried too quickly, sliding in his sock feet, then tried to calm down, taking a deep breath before grabbing the knob. He forgot to let it back out.

Cas was...Cas was stunning. Hair still slightly damp and begging for Dean’s fingers, deep blue shirt that matched his eyes, sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms. Cocky smile, and…a six pack of IPA from the local microbrewery, extended in his hand.

“Are you going to let me in, Dean?”

Dean would swear until his dying day he hadn’t squeaked when Cas raised a brow, but he moved back from the door, clearing his throat several times. “Yeah, ‘f course. I’ll just shove these in the fridge, and get you—one second—“

He shoved the beer quickly in the fridge as promised, and grabbed the eggplant off the counter, hurrying back into the living area while trying to carry all four against his chest. They were awkward to hold, and he wound up dropping one. He stared, watching as it rolled, lopsided, halfway to Castiel’s feet, then pushed the other three into Castiel’s hands, ducking quickly to retrieve the fourth.

“Dean?”

“Yeah?” He looked back up. Cas looked—he looked confused.

“Why are you handing me aubergines?”

“Um, eggplant? You said, I asked if you wanted eggplant, you know, and you said yes, and—“

“Is this a joke? Did Charlie put you up to this?”

“What? No. I mean, what do you mean? I um, our garden—“

“You didn’t plant eggplant in your garden, Dean.”

“Um, maybe? I mean, I—“

Cas raised a brow at him. “The sticker from the store is still on this one.”

“Um.”

“You know I don’t cook, Dean. Why are you giving me these?”

Dean could feel the flush creeping up his chest and onto his neck, and he looked anywhere but Cas.

His friend’s voice softened. “Dean?”

“It was an accident,” he whispered.

“An...accident?”

“Yeah, I dropped the phone when Charlie jostled me, but then you sent a thumbs up, and I didn’t know what to do, so I—“

“Ah.”

Cas moved into the kitchen, setting the vegetables down next to the fruit bowl that Dean always hid when Sammy came over. The smile Cas had greeted him with was gone. The room felt too small, and it was...awkward. Why was it awkward? Why had Cas shown up, freshly showered, with Dean’s favorite beer, if he wasn’t expecting Dean to have any—

Oh.

Oh shit.

He should’ve listened to Charlie.

Why didn’t he listen to Charlie?

“Hey,” he whispered.

Cas glanced up. “Mm?”

“Um, I wouldn’t have normally asked this way, but um, do you, do you, shit, Cas. Um—“

“Do I want your eggplant?”

Fuck. “Shit. Yeah.”

“That depends. Do you want mine?” Cas still wasn’t smiling, but his eyes glimmered with suppressed laughter.

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Just ‘kind of’? That’s a rousing endorsement.”

“Shit, fine. You gonna make me say it? Yeah, I wanna be more than friends with you. Check yes or no.”

“Yes.” Cas slipped closer and kissed him gently on the end of his nose.

Shit, everything was going to be ok. It was going to be fine. Cas was, Cas was ok with it. Cas was—fuck, what now? What should they do now? He should ask, he should—

“So, you want me to cook these? There’s too many to stuff, but I could make lasagna with four.”

Cas lifted his brow again, and pinned Dean with a look that seared him all the way to his toes and back up.

“Can you still make lasagna later if you only have three?”

Fuck.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr under the same username [Adaille](http://www.tumblr.com/blog/adaille).
> 
> If you liked this fic, you might also like my other fic in which Dean is a bit clueless: [Seven Year Ache](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15265407).


End file.
